10 Things To Discuss In Your Essay On Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is a very prominent and controversial issue that is often the subject of college essays. Here are 10 things that you should make sure to touch on when writing your essay on capital punishment, regardless of which side you are advocating for:

Alternatives

– You should ensure you examine the alternatives to death penalties that can be adopted instead.

Risk to innocent people

– It is also important to talk about how the death penalty puts innocent people at risk of getting killed in the event of a wrong conviction. You might also mention that it is impossible to remedy, unlike others.

Deterrence

– Since deterrence is part of the purpose of punishment, you ought to examine the extent to which capital punishment serves as a deterrent to the commission of capital crimes.

International views

– It is important to also point out the varying stances of different countries in a comparative manner.

Inadequate defense

– While most countries guarantee free defense for people on trial for murder, it is very important to discuss whether or not the representation that is being provided for them is sufficient in light of the alleged crime and possible sentence.

Factors which influence sentencing

– It would be very apposite to explain the factors which determine whether or not a person who has been convicted of murder will be sentenced to death, in light of the very small percentage of cases which get that sentence.

Cost

– Discussing the relative costs of executing a person or keeping them in prison would be a very important angle from which to examine the utility of each option to the state.

Religion

– While religion is not an official policy in most countries, the citizens of states are likely to be religious, statistically. As such, it might be helpful to put forward your case from the perspective of religion and religious people. The effectiveness of this perspective will be determined by the proportion of religious people in that country.

Morality

– Apart from practical considerations, the moral justifiability of capital punishment is a very essential thing to discuss.

Racial disparity

– In order to give a holistic view on the subject, it would likely be appropriate to discuss statistics that illustrate the racial dynamics involved in the sentencing of convicts to death.

With the above elements in your essay, you will have covered all the bases with regards to the subject of capital punishment.